Cllr Curran stated that the
Kirkdale Green Improvement Group had been invited to submit for a
reduced amount and were unable to run the project on this basis, so
were not presenting today and were removed from the
ballot.

3.

Fun Palaces Feedback with slide show

Minutes:

Cllr Curran gave a verbal
report and slide presentation on the Fun Palaces, which had been a
great success. Fun Palaces happened in
four different venues across the ward and were visited by over 500
people over the weekend. An amazing
range of arts and science-based activities were shared and enjoyed.
Many people met and made new connections from all ages and
backgrounds and found out about the fantastic facilities offered by
the four venues (TNG Youth Centre, Grove Church Centre, Sydenham
Centre and Sydenham Library). It was
agreed we would like to see the Fun Palaces go ahead again in
2019.

It was agreed to take the Local
Democracy Review item ahead of the Mayor’s Question
time.

A:
All LB Lewisham’s consultations can be found on our
website. Go to “Get
Involved” and click on “Consultations” for a full
list of consultations currently open.
(Or here:https://consultation.lewisham.gov.uk/). When possible we also include
information on them in our written communications e.g. Sydenham
Assembly Newsletter. You can also sign
up to the council’s e-newsletter by going on the
website.

Q:
When will the consultation report back?
A: We hope to report back at the council AGM (in May).

The consultation phase closes
on 27th January 2019

5.

Mayor's Questions with Damien Egan

Minutes:

Mayor Damien Egan opened the
session with some remarks about areas where Lewisham is working
hard to improve – for example school results. He mentioned
the budget cuts that the borough is having to make. Previously we
have already had our budget cut from approx. £400 million to
now £232 million, but this year we have to cut another
£30 million. This will be a huge
challenge and means we have to rely on the community to do
more.

Questions:

Q: How much does the mayoral
system cost and it is money well spent?

A: Our governance is amongst
the lowest cost in London and cheaper than our neighbouring
boroughs. Unlike other boroughs we have
open voting.

Q: Natalie Wright of
Nxt Steps Association asked what the
council is doing to create support for the issue of knife crime,
and what is being offered to support voluntary groups who are
creating programmes of support?

A: Knife crime is an issue
right across South London for which we need tough enforcement and
prevention. We need to invest in young
people who are often the hardest hit by austerity. We invest a lot in youth services through Youth
First and community groups also do a lot. We understand this is not enough and as a result
we have put on hold a proposal to cut youth services by
£800,000. Cuts to policing and
young people’s mental health services make our task
harder.

Q: Vehicle emissions are a
nuisance. It is an offence to leave a
car engine running whilst the vehicle is stationary – except
when in traffic jams. Some councils
e.g. Westminster and Camden, issue fixed penalty fines, should
Lewisham do the same?

A: We are looking into measures
to reduce pollution from car idling.
Cllr Louise Krupski has campaigned on air quality. We are considering whether we can close roads
around school time, but this may be unpopular with
motorists. If we were to introduce
fines, we should ensure the proceeds are ring-fenced to other
measures to improve air quality.

Q: Julia Webb
The St. Philip Neri School planning breaches have compounded since
they were reported in April. Seven
months later, the school has moved in, so the consts of enforcement are huge. Why has the council not taken action earlier? And
are there any private arrangements with the Archbishopric about the
future of the Mayow Road site, that may be impacting
decisions?

A: The Mayor has personally
spoken with the Archbishop himself and is very committed to getting
this right. There are no secret
meetings with the Diocese.

Q: Margot Wilson
Can you make it easier to communicate with the housing benefit
office, in order to encourage private landlords to take tenants who
are on housing benefit? (Online forms are not enough).

A: We agree that our website
needs updating. We support private
landlords to take Housing Benefit tenants.